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Category: English (p. 1/26) | Vox Clamantis In Deserto

Of course demons exist

To be “Christian” is to be a “little Christ” or a “Christ follower.” Jesus rebuked demons, terrorized demons, and exorcized demons. What is there not to understand?

Incomprehensible

To some it would seems unimaginable that God could communicate individually with all 8 billion Earth humans. If that were humanly comprehensible, then God wouldn’t be God.

Trump Truth

I saved this Trumplethinskin meme years ago because it was so perspicacious. I had no idea it would become relevant again.

Surrendered Suffering Is Worship

Luke 22:42 records Jesus as praying, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done.” These words demonstrate total surrender to Yahweh. It is the sheep submitting to the pastor’s plans and purposes. Suffering is not just the adversity which befalls us. Suffering is just as much knowing the adversity that will imminently befall us or the consciousness that our present adversity has no apparent set ending. Feeling about to break, we ourselves are likely to beg the Almighty to bring our suffering to an end. There is nothing fallable in that entreaty. But, if we then bring ourselves to say, “not my will but yours be done” then in that moment we offer a worship of submission. And every moment of mindful submission is worship. In worship there is peace. The desperation changes to sorrow as we experience God’s sorrow for our suffering. But if all we can offer is our desperate and broken heart, then it is sufficient to offer our desperate and broken heart. The old widow who gave her last two coins (Mk 12:41-44) offered God all that she had and it was an acceptable offering. It was her worship. When we surrender our last desperate emotions, it is our worship and it is acceptable, it is pleasing. Our agony, when offered as submission, becomes a lived act of worship. Stop bucking to start worshipping.

Yahweh, Jehovah, & Adonai

I learned a little Arabic in 2022. The classes ended abruptly so I did not progress as far as I had expected. My graduate studies included linguistics that were heavily Indo-European (duh, I speak English, Spanish and French). Of course any linguistics curriculum includes an overview of other language families, and that once-extraneous knowledge of Semitic languages quickly made a lot of sense. It probably also accelerated my uptake. It definitely connected dots which I could apply to Hebrew.Continue Reading

Envisioning Nontraditional Men’s Clothing with AI

AI Image of man wearing knee length sleeveless Oxford shirt dress with elasticized waist.

The problem with demonstrating non-existent clothing is the fact that such clothing does not exist. And whether man or woman, very few consumers have the capacity to draw what they imagine or to sew what they draw. If it can’t be represented, how will a tailor or seamstress be able to create a custom order? Maybe AI can empower the strident consumer to refine his wishes with detail that he can’t quite articulate. This image is the product of “Man wearing knee length sleeveless Oxford shirt dress with elasticized waist.” Perhaps its simplicity will provoke more complex endeavors. (Credit to Deep AI) The crazy thing is that AI does not often generate any two identical images ftom the same text prompt. So if an image isn’t close, just refresh. If an image is close, don’t havigate away or take a break. The AI will abandon its flow. Keep tweaking the text prompt.

A Spontaneous Meditation

“Come unto me, all ye labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you rest, take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.” (Matt 11:28-29 YLT)

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe.” (Prov 18:10 YLT)

“Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is [my portion] forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26 NLT)

“But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.” (Psalm 73:28)